Psychological predictors of mental well-being in Judo athletes: Exploring the impacts of the coach-athlete relationship, social support, and psychological safety

IF 3.1 2区心理学 Q2 HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM

Psychology of Sport and Exercise Pub Date : 2025-04-03 DOI:10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102850

Ender Şenel , Andreas Küttel , İlhan Adiloğulları , Sophia Jowett

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Abstract

Psychological predictors of mental well-being are crucial for improving athletes' mental health. Identifying and supporting the mental health of athletes is essential for a well-functional elite sports system. Previous research suggested that the quality of the coach-athlete relationship and a psychologically safe interpersonal environment can positively influence mental health. However, the interplay between these components and the role of social support has yet to be tested empirically. Therefore, the present study explored the impact of coach-athlete relationship quality and psychological safety on mental well-being through perceived social support within and outside sports. A sample of 323 national and international Turkish Judo athletes completed online questionnaires. Structural equation modelling revealed significant positive effects of the coach-athlete relationship on Judo athletes' mental well-being, mediated by social support and psychological safety. These findings demonstrate that the quality of the coach-athlete relationship can enhance perceived support in and outside sport, and perceived social support can contribute to experiencing a psychologically safe environment within which mental health issues are discussed, leading to an elevated well-being. The coach-athlete relationship alone was not a key factor for enhancing a psychologically safe environment related to athletes' mental health. However, the relationship athletes develop with their coach positively influences mental well-being via the perception of received social support and an enhanced psychologically safe environment specifically designed to allow athletes to discuss mental health issues. These results offer practical recommendations for coaches and professionals working in sports to improve athletes’ mental well-being.

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柔道运动员心理健康的心理预测因素：探讨教练员-运动员关系、社会支持和心理安全的影响。

心理健康的心理预测因子对于提高运动员的心理健康水平至关重要。识别和支持运动员的心理健康对一个功能良好的精英体育系统至关重要。以往的研究表明，教练员与运动员关系的质量和心理安全的人际环境对心理健康有积极的影响。然而，这些组成部分与社会支持的作用之间的相互作用尚未得到实证检验。因此，本研究通过运动内外的感知社会支持来探讨教练员-运动员关系质量和心理安全对心理健康的影响。323名土耳其国内和国际柔道运动员完成了在线问卷调查。结构方程模型显示，教练员与运动员的关系在社会支持和心理安全的中介作用下对柔道运动员的心理健康有显著的正向影响。这些发现表明，教练-运动员关系的质量可以增强运动内外的感知支持，感知社会支持可以帮助体验心理安全的环境，在这种环境中讨论心理健康问题，从而提高幸福感。教练员与运动员的关系本身并不是提高与运动员心理健康相关的心理安全环境的关键因素。然而，运动员与教练发展的关系通过接受社会支持的感知和专门设计的增强心理安全环境，使运动员能够讨论心理健康问题，对心理健康产生积极影响。这些结果为从事体育运动的教练和专业人员提供了实用的建议，以提高运动员的心理健康。

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来源期刊

Psychology of Sport and Exercise 医学-心理学

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

5.90%

发文量

172

审稿时长

69 days

期刊介绍： Psychology of Sport and Exercise is an international forum for scholarly reports in the psychology of sport and exercise, broadly defined. The journal is open to the use of diverse methodological approaches. Manuscripts that will be considered for publication will present results from high quality empirical research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, commentaries concerning already published PSE papers or topics of general interest for PSE readers, protocol papers for trials, and reports of professional practice (which will need to demonstrate academic rigour and go beyond mere description). The CONSORT guidelines consort-statement need to be followed for protocol papers for trials; authors should present a flow diagramme and attach with their cover letter the CONSORT checklist. For meta-analysis, the PRISMA prisma-statement guidelines should be followed; authors should present a flow diagramme and attach with their cover letter the PRISMA checklist. For systematic reviews it is recommended that the PRISMA guidelines are followed, although it is not compulsory. Authors interested in submitting replications of published studies need to contact the Editors-in-Chief before they start their replication. We are not interested in manuscripts that aim to test the psychometric properties of an existing scale from English to another language, unless new validation methods are used which address previously unanswered research questions.